The main objective of H2PlasmaRed is to develop hydrogen plasma smelting reduction (HPSR) technology for the reduction of iron ores and steelmaking sidestreams to meet the targets of the European Green Deal for reducing CO2 emissions and supporting the circular economy in the steel industry across Europe. Our ambition is to introduce a near CO2-free reduction process to support the goal of the Paris Agreement - a 90% reduction in the carbon intensity of steel production by 2050. To achieve this, H2PlasmaRed will develop HPSR from TRL5 to TRL7 by demonstrating the HPSR in a pilot-HPSR reactor (hundred-kilogram-scale) that is an integrated part of a steel plant, and in a pilot-scale DC electric arc furnace (5-ton scale) by retrofitting the existing furnace. The project's end goal is to establish a way to upscale the process from pilot-scale into industrial practice. To support this goal, the novel sensors and models developed and implemented in the project are used for HPSR process optimization from a reduction, resource, and energy efficiency standpoint.

Big data is becoming a hype that is going to completely redefine industries within very traditional sectors like agriculture, food and beauty. The emergence of niche big data companies like Enolytics (“bringing big data insights to the wine industry”) is threatening to disrupt these industries against the interests of the EU. BigDataGrapes wants to build upon the rich historical, cultural and artisan heritage of Europe in order to change this picture. It aims to support all European companies active in two key industries powered by grapevines: the wine industry and the natural cosmetics one. It will help them respond to the significant opportunity that big data is creating in their relevant markets, by pursuing two ambitious goals: a. To develop and demonstrate powerful, rigorously tested, cross-sector data processing technologies that go beyond-the-state-of-the-art towards increasing the efficiency of companies that need to take important business decisions dependent on access to vast and complex amounts of data, and assess them in challenges informed by the grapevine-powered industries. b. To create a large-scale, mulifaceted marketplace for grapevine-related data assets, increasing the competitive advantage of companies that serve with IT solutions these sectors and helping companies and organisations evolve methods, standards and processes to help them achieve free, interoperable and secure flow of their data. BigDataGrapes is targeting technology challenges of the grapevine-powered data economy as its business problems and decisions requires processing, analysis and visualisation of data with rapidly increasing volume, velocity and variety: satellite and weather data, environmental and geological data, phenotypic and genetic plant data, food supply chain data, economic and financial data and more. It therefore makes a perfectly suitable cross-sector and cross-country combination of industries that are of high European significance and value.

The Powder2Power project aims to demonstrate at the MW-scale (TRL7) the operation of an innovative, cost effective and more reliable complete fluidized particle-driven Concentrated Solar Technology that can be applied for both power and industrial heat production. The prototype to be developed and tested is based on the modification and the improvement of an experimental loop built in the framework of the previous H2020 project Next-CSP. It will include all the components of a commercial plant, a multi-tube fluidized bed solar receiver (2 MWth), an electricity-driven particle superheater (300 kW), a hot store, a particle-to-working fluid cross-flow fluidized bed heat exchanger (2 MWth), a turbine (hybrid Brayton cycle gas turbine, 1.2 MWe), a cold store and a vertical particle transport system (~100 m). It is planned to organize the experimental campaign at the Themis tower (France) during one year. Adding an electricity-driven particle superheater will enable to validate a PV-CSP concept working at 750°C that is expected to result in electricity cost reduction with respect to the state-of-the-art. At utility-scale, this temperature allows to adopt high efficiency conversion cycles, typically 750°C for supercritical CO2 (sCO2) cycles. The expected increase in conversion efficiency (sun to power) of the P2P solution with respect to molten salt technology is in the range 5 to 9% and the cost reduction is 5.4%. (LCOE). The hybrid CSP-PV concept enables to reach 9% in efficiency increase and the CSP-only concept 5%. The proposed approach includes the sustainability assessment in environmental and socio-economic terms. A special attention will be brought to elaborate in a transparent way all documents necessary to ensure replicability, up-scaling and to assist future planning decisions. Ten participants from 6 EU countries constitute the P2P consortium. Six participants are industrial and service companies, and four are public research institutions and universities.

Reliability and radiation damage issues have a long and important history in the domain of satellites and space missions. Qualification standards were established and expertise was built up in space agencies (ESA), supporting institutes and organizations (CNES, DLR, etc.) as well as universities and specialized companies. During recent years, radiation concerns are gaining attention also in aviation, automotive, medical and other industrial sectors due to the growing ubiquity and complexity of electronic systems and their increased radiation sensitivity owing to technology scaling. This raises the demand for dedicated design and qualification guidelines, as well as associated technical expertise. Addressing open questions linked to respective qualification requirements, the proposed training network “RADiation and Reliability Challenges for Electronics used in Space, Aviation, Ground and Accelerators” (RADSAGA) will for the first time bring together industry, universities, laboratories and test-facilities in order to innovate and train young scientists and engineers in all aspects related to electronics exposed to radiation. The expertise of the space and avionics sectors will be complemented with new and unique test facilities, design and qualification methodologies of the accelerator sector, promising for other application areas. Driven by the industrial needs, the students will be trained by established specialists in all required skills, and acquire expertise through innovative scientific projects, allowing to: (i) push the scientific frontier in design, testing and qualification of complex electronic systems for mixed field radiation environments (ii) establish related courses to train future engineers/physicists; and (iii) issue design and test guidelines to support industry in the field, protecting European competitiveness when radiation effects become as important as thermal or mechanical constraints for the aviation, automotive and other industrial sectors.

We stand on the brink of a significant energy transition, marked by the phasing out of coal, the rise of electromobility, and the increasing reliance on renewable energy sources. Li-ion batteries (LIBs) and electric double-layer capacitors (EDLCs) are pivotal in driving this technological shift, dominating the commercial power supply market and powering a wide range of applications. However, these conventional energy storage solutions are not without their drawbacks, including concerns over operational safety, rising production costs, potential scarcity of natural resources, and challenges related to universal waste disposal. Zn-ion rechargeable power sources, encompassing both batteries and supercapacitors, present a compelling alternative to traditional LIBs and EDLCs. This emerging technology boasts several advantages, including high gravimetric and volumetric theoretical capacities, affordability, enhanced safety, and environmental sustainability. Despite these benefits, zinc-ion systems face significant hurdles that impede their widespread adoption for commercial applications. These challenges include the need for optimized electrode designs, the risk of liquid electrolyte leakage, rigid construction, and the reliance on synthetic polymer-based components. The BioZincPower project seeks to address these challenges by pioneering the development of biopolymer-based Zn-ion systems. This research will focus on transforming biopolymers into specialized components such as active materials, binders, and gel electrolytes, and integrating them into zinc-ion energy storage devices. This innovative approach promises to deliver a technology that is efficient, safe, cost-effective, non-combustive, flexible, and environmentally sustainable. The project will emphasize overcoming the performance and environmental limitations associated with LIBs while also exploring the potential for wearable energy storage solutions through cutting-edge biobased technological advancements.